LOS ANGELES — In the lottery of TV scheduling, "October Road" is a very big winner.

The drama starring Bryan Greenberg ("Prime," "Unscripted") and Laura Prepon ("That '70s Show") was gifted with the Thursday night slot following "Grey's Anatomy," the season's top-rated scripted program.

"October Road" debuts 9 p.m. Thursday.

The best-case scenario would have "Grey's" viewers stay tuned to ABC, sample the new show and be entranced by the story of young writer Nick Garrett (Greenberg), who returns to his New England hometown and a confrontation with his past after too many years away.

The other, bleak possibility: That the mellow drama with a male-dominated ensemble cast doesn't cut it with the 25 million or so fans addicted to the high-octane life, death and love escapades of Meredith Grey and her hospital posse.

The stakes weigh heavily on "October Road" executive producer Scott Rosenberg and colleagues.

"It's this crazy combination of being completely excited, but then all of a sudden terrified," Rosenberg said as the show's debut drew close.

He and his fellow producers have track records in TV and movies, "but we're definitely now on the precipice of our biggest public success or failure," said Rosenberg, whose film credits include the scripts for "Beautiful Girls" and "High Fidelity."

"October Road," in unexpected ways, was born of "Beautiful Girls," the 1996 film about a musician (Timothy Hutton) and the high-school reunion that comes at a turning point for him and his buddies.

After "Beautiful Girls," Rosenberg's own life took a few twists. The movie drew on his youth in Massachusetts and initially prompted excitement among the circle of friends who'd unwittingly contributed character names and story lines.

"But when the buzz wore off and people went back to their own lives, I think that some feathers were ruffled," Rosenberg said, adding that any resentment has now waned.

More than a decade later, he said, ABC Entertainment President Stephen McPherson proposed a series based on the film. Gary Fleder, an executive producer on the show, suggested focusing on a college writing instructor.

"Then we said, 'Why don't we use "Beautiful Girls" and the thing that happened to me," Rosenberg said, referring to the reaction of his friends. He adds wryly: "It's so meta. Here I am exploiting them again."

"October Road" opens with high school grad Nick heading off to Europe for a few weeks of freedom and discovery before he's to return to his widowed father (Tom Berenger) and girlfriend Hannah (Prepon). Best friend Eddie (Geoff Stults) is expecting him to help start their window-washing business.

Instead, Nick writes a sharp-tongued novel about his town and the people in it, gains fame and ditches the past — until he's brought back a decade later by a bout of writer's block.

The show had its own difficult trip. In a fall season fixated on "hook" shows with superheroes and kidnap sagas, "October Road" instead offered the drama of everyday life. It wasn't even a crime or medical show. It didn't make the cut.

ABC's McPherson believed in the pilot but told the producers there wasn't money available to go further. In stepped an outside company, GroupM, with additional financing; after what Rosenberg calls a "brutal" waiting period ABC gave the go-ahead for five more episodes, which were filmed in Atlanta posing as a New England town.

"We're the little show that could. We went from not being on the fall schedule to getting basically the best spot in all of television," he said.

Greenberg had his own early issues with "October Road." He was working steadily in films and wasn't interested in a TV series, he told the producers.

"I said I have more indie sensibilities and that's what I'm hoping to work on. And Scott Rosenberg said, 'Well, we want to make an indie film every week.' "